Curated OER
Composer/Musician Study
Learners research a musician or composer of their choice and present their research through a written paper and free choice activity. This lesson can be done over the course of five to six classes with some homework. The paper...
San Francisco Symphony
Music Reflects History
Exploring the baroque era can be exciting and fun when it's done thorugh the arts. Middle schoolers examine the music and art history of the baroque era through research. They use their findings and class notes to create an expository...
Curated OER
Living Yesterday's History Today
Learners describe and contrast life as it was in colonial days. They plan, compose, and produce a student movie. They reflect on what they have learned. They share their experience with others in digital format.
Curated OER
History of Aaron Copland
Third graders study the history of Aaron Copland, the famous American composer. They dance to the song Hoe-Down composed by Aaron Copland.
Curated OER
Write a Rap Song
Students compose lyrics for a rap song. In this music instructional activity, students choose a topic, such as "Our School," and use rhyming words to compose a rap song. Students perform the song for their classmates.
Curated OER
Grand Canyon Suite
Take a trip to the Grand Canyon! Lesson one explores how Ferde Grofe painted a musical landscape of America when he wrote the Grand Canyon Suite. Learners then examine art that shows the Grand Canyon in lesson two. Finally, lesson three...
Curated OER
Music To My Ears: The District of Columbia Quarter
Learners practice identifying different genres of music by creating posters. In this music appreciation lesson, students research Duke Ellington and complete worksheets based on his style of music, Jazz. Learners collaborate...
Curated OER
Music of the Great Depression
Eleventh graders take a closer look at the music of the Great Depression. For this 1930's America lesson, 11th graders read and analyze the provided lyrics of 6 songs from the era. Students then compose their own lyrics for songs that...
Curated OER
Twelve-Bar Blues
Students examine blues music. In this music genres lesson plan, students discover details about the history of the musical genre and compositional techniques. Students then compose melodies of their own with 12-bar blues chord progression.
Berklee College of Music
Create Your Own Afro-Latin Groove
The backbone of Latin American music is the beat! Young musicians work on blending Afro-Latin rhythms and beat patterns before incorporating the major pentatonic, minor pentatonic, and blues scales in their own compositions.
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Composers
High schoolers identify various pieces of music that are familiar to them and define how the music made them feel. Then they select their favorite piece of music heard and the activities in which they like to do. Students also attend a...
Curated OER
Notable American Composers
Students visit web sites for each of the composersand listen to selections of each composer's music and place important dates of the composers into a pre-printed time line.
Curated OER
Tradition through storytelling and music
Students discover how storytelling can shape a person's tradition.Students examine different methods of storytelling such as music, biographies, and African folktales. They then demonstrate their knowledge of storytelling by writing...
Curated OER
American Music Styles: Blues - Lesson 2
Students describe some of the distinguishing characteristics of blues music. They compare and analyze two versions of the same 12-bar blues song. They read and identify notation symbols for rhythm and tempo.
Curated OER
Grandparents' Day: Family History
Students explore Grandparents' Day. They interview their grandparents and select an activity to highlight their interview. They select a project including writing an essay, composing a song, creating a poem or scrapbook, or writing a...
Curated OER
Travel Agent to the Ancient World
Students persuade others to visit ancient times. In this ancient civilizations lesson, students participate in a webquest that requires them to encourage others to visit ancient Greece, ancient Israel, Ancient Rome, ancient China,...
Curated OER
Epic Improvisation
Really? Rapping The Odyssey? Really. A discussion of the oral tradition of story telling and its links to Epic poetry sets the stage for a series of activities that encourage improvisation to integrate music into other classrooms....
Curated OER
Baroque Composer Presentations
Students create an understanding of contemporary artistic styles and genres through an overview of the connection of the arts throughout modern history. Students discussed visual, written and aural artistic mediums, as well as their...
Curated OER
Adventures in Music History
Seventh graders participate in a variety of experiences to investigate the tie between music and history. It combines music history with historical events and includes information about composers and the music that they composed....
Curated OER
The History of Rock and Roll: Part 6 - My Generation Social an Cultural Influence on Music Composition
Students examine influences on the creation and development of music.
Curated OER
The History of Rock and Roll: Part 6 - My Generation - Lesson 2
Learners identify musical characteristics of baroque, jazz, and psychedelic music. They arrange traditional music into the style of baroque, jazz, and psychedelic music.
Curated OER
History of Christmas Carols
Students write the lyrics to their own Christmas carol. Through discussion and lecture, students become aware of the history of two Christmas carols. They memorize the lyrics to carols and perform them in class. Students use their...
Curated OER
Ice -T's Rap School
Students research the history of rap and gain an understanding of the components of rap music. They experience the correlation between Shakespeare's poetry and rap music of today.
Curated OER
VH1 AIDS: A Pop Culture History Lesson 3
High schoolers investigate the relationship between music and culture, and how music conveys thoughts and emotions. They write their own song.